Punjab government has made significant progress: Khosa

Lahore: Senior Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa has said that, under the leadership of Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, the Punjab government has made significant progress in the field of good governance, frugality, transparency and merit-based use of funds on development projects, including in the fields of education, health, agriculture and transport. He said law and order situation is extremely satisfactory in Punjab, due to exemplary political stability, and commercial and business activities are continuing in a healthy social atmosphere, due to which the Punjab government has become the role model for the people of Pakistan and other provincial governments.

He expressed these views, while talking to the who had called on him, under the leadership of Air Commodore, Nadeem Shujaat Khan, of Air War College Karachi of Pakistan Air Force. The participants included officers from Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, Jordan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, China and Turkey. He gave detailed briefing to the participants, during which Secretary Finance, Secretary Health, Member Planning & Development and senior officers of Police were present.

Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa said that Punjab government has taken revolutionary steps in education and health sectors during its five years rule, and have made progress not only in urban but in rural areas as well. He said that Daanish school system has been introduced to provide modern facilities to the brilliant students of rural sectors, out of which five Daanish schools are operating, while further three are under construction. He said that 20 thousand vacancies have been generated in the education system to overcome problems, while 2500 schools have been upgraded from primary to high school level. He said that Punjab government has distributed more than one lakh laptops among brilliant students while provision of more than one lakh laptops to the students, in the current fiscal years, has also been initiated. He said that Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) which was established in 2008 with Rs.2 billion, has now reached upto Rs.10 billion. He said that four women universities have also been established in the province. He said that Punjab government has asked the federal government to solve the energy crisis to ensure social progress. He said that the Punjab government has chalked out a comprehensive strategy and programme for the energy sector in Punjab, and in the current fiscal year, an amount of Rs.10 billion, has been earmarked for the energy sector, and Rs.one billion has been allocated for solar panels.

With regard to the Health Department, Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa said that during the current fiscal year, Rs.16.5 million have been allocated, along with Rs.0.5 billion, for the rural ambulance service. He said that in order to provide free of cost medicines at hospitals to the people, 5.846 million rupees have been allocated, while Rs.2 billion have been earmarked for upgradation of DHQs of Dera Ghazi Khan, Sahiwal, Sialkot and Gujranwala. He said that Punjab government has allocated Rs.300 million to provide medical care to the hepatitis patients during the current year. He said, during the last year, dengue virus attack took many precious lives, however due to best policy and revolutionary steps of Chief Minister Punjab, dengue virus has been overcome and not a single patient died due to dengue.

Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa said that work on Bus Rapid Transit Project is continuing speedily, in the transport sector, while 20 thousand yellow cabs are being provided to the educated unemployed youth. The meeting was also attended by Secretary Finance, Secretary Health, Member Planning & Development and AIG Police, who briefed about the performance of their departments. The leader of the delegation Air Commodore Nadeem Shujaat Khan appreciated the performance of various departments of the Punjab, and thanked Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa. Later, commemorative shields were also exchanged.